Jan Freedman, acting keeper of Natural History at Plymouth City Museum would like to hear from SW museums interested in borrowing an exhibition provisionally titled 'Capturing Coleoptera', which he is putting together with the University of Plymouth.

The exhibition will be about how beetles have been collected in the past, how they have been imaged (through old illustrations and modern scanning electron microscopes) and how they have been used in human culture.  The exhibition will be available from late 2011.

The touring package will include specimens from PCMAG’s natural history collections, display panels, labels and additional label templates, interactive elements and education resources. The intention is that the exhibition will act as a core to encourage the display of additional collections held within each host venue, with their own display cases.

Core elements (including 7 to 8 display panels of varying sizes, and three small display plinths) would be expected to fill a gallery size of approx. 50 square metres. A final exhibition pack outlining sizes, plinths, etc., will be sent out towards the end of this year.

The hire fee will include onward travel costs to subsequent venues, and support staff to set up and demount the exhibition. We will endeavour to keep the fee as low as possible and will advise interested partners of the fee by October 2010.

At this stage Jan is seeking expressions of interest, and feedback on the development of the show from interested organisations in the region. 

Please click here for more details about the content of the exhibition and here for a short questionnaire for interested museums to fill out (Questionnaire should be completed by July 21st 2010).